Roth’s 18-9 1/4 pole vault is second-best in the world this year

CourtesyValley Christian Academy graduate Ryan Cordell hasn’t received much playing time in his freshman season at Liberty University in Virginia, but he hit two home runs in one game — his first two collegiate hits — against No. 2 South Carolina on Tuesday.

CourtesyValley Christian Academy graduate Ryan Cordell teed off on South Carolina pitching for his first two collegiate home runs Tuesday. Cordell is a freshman at Liberty University in Virginia.

CourtesyGranite Bay High School graduate Scott Roth, a senior at the University of Washington, added the second-highest pole vault in the world this year to his NCAA Indoor Championship.

A month after Granite Bay High School graduate Scott Roth won his second consecutive NCAA Indoor Championship, he pole vaulted to the No. 2 height in the world this year.

The University of Washington senior and six-time All-American followed a winning performance at the Pepsi Invitational in Eugene, Ore., by vaulting 18 feet, 9¼ inches at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 16 in Walnut.

Roth won the Pepsi Invitational a week earlier with a vault of 18-½. At the Mt. SAC Relays, he vaulted 17-9½ on his first try and set an outdoors personal record with a vault of 18-5¼ before his 18-9¼ vault broke Washington’s school record of 18-6½, set by American record-holder Brad Walker in 2003. Roth couldn’t clear three attempts at 19-¾.

“It was just perfect there,” Roth was quoted as saying in a story on www.ncaa.com. “A 15-mph wind, a good tail wind, great weather. My mind-set right now is this will be my last time jumping for the UW. It’s an opportunity to prove myself.”

Roth’s win at Mt. SAC earned him his first honor as Pacific-10 Conference Field Athlete of the Week.

Roth won the NCAA Indoor Championship with a height of 18-½, an ‘A’ standard needed for the IAAF World Championships in August in Daegu, Korea.

Cordell goes deep twiceValley Christian Academy graduate Ryan Cordell hasn’t played much in his freshman baseball season at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., but he made the most of his opportunity Tuesday.

Cordell hit his first two home runs of the season, and he did it against South Carolina, ranked No. 2 in the nation. Liberty lost to the Gamecocks 9-6. Cordell homered to left field in the fourth inning and hit a leadoff blast in the eighth. The homers also were Cordell’s first collegiate hits. He’s one of three Liberty players this season to hit two homers in a game.

He has appeared in four of 41 games for Liberty (22-19), which competes in the Big South Conference. Cordell is an outfielder and pitcher for the Flames.

Cordell led Valley Christian to a 20-8 record last season and was the Sacramento Metro Athletic League MVP. He led the state of California with 14 home runs and hit .578 with 50 RBI and a 1.337 slugging percentage. As a pitcher, Cordell led the Lions with a 10-2 record and two saves. He allowed 11 walks and struck out 117 in 63 2/3 innings and pitched five shutouts. Cordell’s ERA was 1.21.

Cordell’s teammates at Liberty include Casey Rasmus, a younger brother of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus; and Doug and Tyler Bream, cousins of former major-leaguer Sid Bream.

Granite Bay’s Eyen commits to collegeGranite Bay senior basketball player Joe Eyen has committed to play for Division III Pomona-Pitzer College in Claremont. The Sagehens compete in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Eyen, a 6-foot-2 guard, was a co-captain for a Granite Bay team that shared the Sierra Foothill League championship with Woodcreek, advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinals and qualified for the CIF Northern California Regional playoffs.

Eyen, who has a 4.4 grade-point average, also visited Occidental College in Los Angeles, Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.